Jordan Jenkins (L) and Cameron Richard (R) led the Lady Flames' Big South Conference awards, which were announced at a ceremony Wednesday evening in Rock Hill, S.C.
Jordan Jenkins and Cameron Richard highlight the Liberty Lady Flames' 2011 Big South Conference award winners. Jenkins earned all-conference in multiple categories and Richard was named the 2011 Big South Women's Tennis Freshman of the Year. In total, five Liberty women's tennis players earned honors Wednesday night, as announced by the conference office. The yearly awards are voted on by Big South tennis coaches.
Jenkins' list of awards begins with the senior being named all-conference singles in addition to all-conference doubles with teammate Hannah Fick. With the recognition, the Sarasota, Fla., native becomes the first Liberty women's tennis player to be named all-conference in both categories in all four years of her career. In her four years at Liberty, Jenkins has compiled an 86-22 career singles record and a 77-26 career doubles record, giving her the top spot on both the all-time singles and doubles wins lists. In Big South matches alone, she owns a career record of 19-4 in singles and 20-6 in doubles.
This season, Jenkins went 11-3 overall and 3-1 in Big South matches, all while playing the lead singles position. In doubles, Jenkins and Fick compiled a perfect 8-0 record overall, while winning all six of their Big South matches. As a duo, Jenkins and Fick earn all-conference doubles honors for the second time, after garnering recognition in 2009 as well.
Jenkins also earned her second-consecutive Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, sharing this year's honor with Rita Gouveia of Gardner-Webb. Finally, she earned her third-consecutive naming to the all-academic team to become the third Lady Flame to do so. Brook Garman and Jonita Randolph each placed their names on the all-academic team three-consecutive years, doing so from 2001-03 and 2005-07, respectively. Jenkins owns a 3.81 GPA and is an International Relations major.
Richard claims the Freshman of the Year honors for a 12-8 season, while competing in the upper portion of Liberty's singles line up and also notching eight total doubles wins with multiple partners. She won six singles matches at both No. 2 and 3 in Liberty's lineup, including posting a seven-match win streak earlier in the year. In Big South matches, Richard scored a 5-2 record. With the award, the Birmingham, Ala., native becomes the third Lady Flame in program history to be named the Big South's Freshman of the Year. Jonita Randolph earned the award in 2004, while Jenkins did so in 2008.
In addition to the voted awards, two of Liberty's doubles combinations were named as Big South flight winners. Jenkins and Fick won the No. 1 doubles position by way of their 6-0 conference mark. Carol Lobel and Valeriyah Klintsevich took the No. 3 doubles spot, as the pair also went undefeated in Big South play, holding a 5-0 mark. Overall, the junior-senior duo went 12-2 this season.
Winthrop's Yasmine Alkema rounded out the individual player awards, as she was voted Player of the Year. Coastal Carolina's Jody Davis and Gardner-Webb's Jim Corn claimed the final Big South Honors, being named Co-Coach of the Year.
The 2011 Big South Women's Tennis Championship starts Thursday at 9 a.m. Three matches will be contested for the first round, while the event wraps up Saturday, with the championship match slated for a 9 a.m. start. The Lady Flames face off with Radford at Noon in the opening round Thursday. A complete tournament preview is available here.
2011 Big South Conference Women's Tennis Award Winners
All-Academic Team Rita Gouveia, Gardner-Webb Jordan Jenkins, Liberty Petra Dajevic, Radford Elizaveta Zaytseva, Winthrop Nicole Schon, UNC Asheville Miki Bunea, Coastal Carolina Marija Dzakovic, Charleston Southern Lindsay Krause, Presbyterian College Women's Tennis Flight Winners No. 1 Singles – Yasmine Alkema, Winthrop No. 2 Singles – Miki Bunea, Coastal Carolina No. 3 Singles – Sandra Herrera, Winthrop No. 4 Singles – Giovanna Portioli, Winthrop No. 5 Singles – Diana Mortlock, Coastal Carolina No. 6 Singles – Maria Hesketh, Coastal Carolina No. 1 Doubles – Hannah Fick/Jordan Jenkins, Liberty No. 2 Doubles – Miki Bunea/Diana Mortlock, Coastal Carolina No. 3 Doubles – Carol Lobel/Valeriya Klintsevich, Liberty
All-Conference Singles Yasmine Alkema, Winthrop Olga Makhova, Charleston Southern Jordan Jenkins, Liberty Miki Buena, Coastal Carolina Erica White, Gardner-Webb Elizaveta Zaytseva, Winthrop Lexi Bolesky, Coastal Carolina Sandra Herrera, Winthrop
All-Conference Doubles Jordan Jenkins/Hannah Fick, Liberty Lexi Bolesky/Mikaela Kristofersson, Coastal Carolina Yasmine Alkema/Lisa Wilkinson, Winthrop Miki Bunea/Diana Mortlock, Coastal
Player of the Year Yasmine Alkema, Winthrop
Freshman of the Year Cameron Richard, Liberty
Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year Rita Gouveia, Gardner-Webb Jordan Jenkins, Liberty
Co-Coach of the Year Jody Davis, Coastal Carolina Jim Corn, Gardner-Webb
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